Artists announced for EDGE Inner West × Biennale 2024
Tuesday 5 March 2024
Inner West Council is very proud to announce the artists commissioned for EDGE Inner West 2024.
After an extensive EOI process, the selected artists represent a roll call of excellence from a diverse cross-section of art forms, including the famous Legs on the Wall and Force Majeure performers. Well-known broadcasters and writers Benjamin Law and Yumi Stynes will curate the EDGE Talks program.
EDGE Inner West, as part of a major partnership with Biennale of Sydney, stands to be one of the most exciting creative festivals within the Inner West for 2024.
EDGE Inner West × Biennale of Sydney will take place across three weekends in April with a program of site-specific works by leading performance artists at White Bay Power Station (6–7 April) and Petersham Town Hall (13–14 April) followed by a weekend of talks at White Bay (27–28 April).
EDGE White Bay: 6–7 April
White Bay Power Station, Rozelle
EDGE White Bay hands over the iconic site to performing artists who will create site-specific works that interpret the multiple stories and histories of White Bay.
- Legs On The Wall
- Force Majeure
- Oliver Cameron and Elizabeth Jigalin
- Ryuichi Fujimura and WeiZen
- Samantha Snedden
- Suara Indonesia Dance
EDGE Town Hall Takeover: 13–14 April
Petersham Town Hall, Petersham
EDGE Town Hall Takeover hands this traditional civic space to creatives for performance works by:
- Deborah Kelly, Lex Lindsay, Kit Spencer and Saria Green - CREATION
- Alon Ilsar, Diane Busuttil and Matthew Hughes
- Kenneth Craig Lambert
- Emma Kew and Cheryn Frost
- Shamgods
EDGE Talks: 27–28 April
White Bay Power Station, Rozelle
Guest curated by the famous Australian writers and broadcasters Benjamin Law and Yumi Stynes, hear from local luminaries as they cover a range of topics and ideas centred around the Inner West community. Expect a motley and eccentric series of talks with special guests, presented as a love letter to the Inner West.
Council would like to thank all artists who expressed interest in the program. The large number of submissions demonstrates Inner West's strong shared creative identity and the area’s profile as Sydney's leading creative community.
Stay tuned for the full program announcement in March.
For further information about each performance, please see full details below.
ENDS
For media enquiries please contact Margaret Merten, Margaret.Merten@innerwest.nsw.gov.au
EDGE Inner West × Biennale 2024 artist list
EDGE White Bay
Legs On The Wall
About: Responding to the industrial nature of the site through physical theatre, the human body will be showcased alongside the power station architecture. With the major transformation of power station to community art space, the work will reflect the significance of this by working at a scale that will draw spectacle and wonder.
Force Majeure
About: Utilising a blend of storytelling, movement and sound, Force Majeure will breathe life into the cavernous spaces of White Bay. Initiated by three roving performers weaving through the crowd, the ensemble then converges for a choreographed spectacle of evolving live dance and sound.
Oliver Cameron and Elizabeth Jigalin
About: A site-responsive music activation featuring new original compositions, with interplay between roaming choir and resonant strings. The local composers will work collaboratively with local community choir, Inner West Voices.
Ryuichi Fujimura and WeiZen
About: An open durational performance piece, responding to the spirit or soul of White Bay, known as chirei in Japanese culture. Featuring a performing duo, the work combines dance, movement, voice, sound and improvisation as they interact with the unique architecture and resulting resonance of White Bay Power Station.
Samantha Snedden
About: Within a warm and welcoming space, audiences drop in to share cultural knowledge through the First Nations art of weaving. Presented by First Nations artist and Balmain local, Samantha Snedden will share knowledge and discussion of traditional techniques and uses of weaving.
Suara Indonesia Dance
About: A series of dance workshops and choreographic labs in traditional Indonesian body percussion, contemporary and street dance. Participants will learn from traditional practice to comprehend and shape the future of dance.
EDGE Town Hall Takeover
Deborah Kelly, Lex Lindsay, Kit Spencer and Saria Green
About: CREATION is a multidisciplinary work featuring visual arts, music, literature, choreography, performance, and sustained collaboration. Taking the form of a queer insurrectionary science fiction climate change religion, the CREATION choir forms the heart of the performance for a soul-soaring experience for audiences.
Alon Ilsar, Diane Busuttil and Matthew Hughes
About: A series of interactive audio-visual pieces performed by members of the local community. Utilising state-of-the-art motion capture technology, participants are invited to work the artists to create short pieces, celebrating the different ways we move in and engage with our surroundings.
Kenneth Craig Lambert
About: A reflective journey of communal memory and history, this performance work features two distinct stages in the creation of a large abstract sand drawing, which is then gradually removed, referencing the relentless march of time and progress.
Emma Kew and Cheryn Frost
About: Sitting somewhere between drag, theatre and interactive experience, this work draws inspiration from comic opera Ruddygore. Led by two outlaws, audiences are invited to partake in a series of orchestrated crimes.
Shamgods
About: Drawing on theatre, comedy and performance traditions, this work skirts the line between performance and the everyday. Based within the office spaces, audiences can experience various, hilariously unique, business ventures.